Development and Parametric Analysis of Vibration System Controlled by Hydraulic Shock Rotary Vibrator

The improvement of the energy utilization rate of a hydraulic vibration-excitation system is critical to the research and development of hydraulic vibration equipment. In this paper, a hydraulic vibration-excitation system controlled by a new type of shock rotary vibrator is proposed. A system model considering the pipeline effect was established for the hydraulic shock phenomenon. In addition, the model was compared with the one that does not consider the pipeline effect. The effectiveness of the proposed model was verified experimentally. Finally, the shock phenomenon during the process of switching the working state of the vibrator and the influence of certain important parameters of the system on the vibration output were investigated based on the proposed model. The results showed that (1) the hydraulic shock phenomenon occurred when the working state of the hydraulic vibrator was switched and (2) the hydraulic shock wave could effectively improve the excitation force of the system. The excitation force increased with an increase in the oil supply pressure, spindle speed, and load. However, it was negatively correlated with the spring stiffness. The amplitude of the vibration waveform output was positively correlated with the oil supply pressure and negatively correlated with the spindle speed and load. The amplitude first increased and then decreased as the stiffness of the vibration spring increased. The only influence of the precompressed length of the spring on the system output was its alteration of the vibration center of the system output vibration.

Rational Design and Porosity of Porous Alumina Ceramic Membrane for Air Bearing

Air bearing has been widely applied in ultra-precision machine tools, aerospace and other fields. The restrictor of the porous material is the key component in air bearings, but its performance is limited by the machining accuracy. A combination of optimization design and material modification of the porous alumina ceramic membrane is proposed to improve performance within an air bearing. Porous alumina ceramics were prepared by adding a pore-forming agent and performing solid-phase sintering at 1600 °C for 3 h, using 95-Al2O3 as raw material and polystyrene microspheres with different particle sizes as the pore-forming agent. With 20 wt.% of PS50, the optimum porous alumina ceramic membranes achieved a density of 3.2 g/cm3, a porosity of 11.8% and a bending strength of 150.4 MPa. Then, the sintered samples were processed into restrictors with a diameter of 40 mm and a thickness of 5 mm. After the restrictors were bonded to aluminum shells for the air bearing, both experimental and simulation work was carried out to verify the designed air bearing. Simulation results showed that the load capacity increased from 94 N to 523 N when the porosity increased from 5% to 25% at a fixed gas supply pressure of 0.5 MPa and a fixed gas film thickness of 25 μm. When the gas film thickness and porosity were fixed at 100 μm and 11.8%, respectively, the load capacity increased from 8.6 N to 40.8 N with the gas supply pressure having been increased from 0.1 MPa to 0.5 MPa. Both experimental and simulation results successfully demonstrated the stability and effectiveness of the proposed method. The porosity is an important factor for improving the performance of an air bearing, and it can be optimized to enhance the bearing’s stability and load capacity.

Experimental Investigation of Aerostatic Journal Bearings made of Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Carbon Composites

This study describes experimental results using carbon fiber-reinforced carbon (C/C) material for porous journal bearings under static conditions. Exerted radial forces of up to 90 N, a supply pressure of up to 6 bar and a maximum rotational speed of 8000 rpm were tested. The occurrence of pneumatic hammering was not observed under these operating points. Triangulation sensors were mounted vertically and horizontally as well as in front of and behind the tested bearing. These sensors measure eccentricity and misalignment. The orbit analysis demonstrated an improvement in concentricity with an increment in the supply pressure. The layered structure of the C/C material used for the porous liner is presented. A rotational speed below 8000 rpm negligibly influenced the load-carrying capacity and the flow rate. The vertical misalignment of the shaft was determined in relation to the force-applied test bearing to the shaft. In addition, two vertically positioned sensors on the support-bearing housing were used to discern the misalignment in the absolute system. On the other hand, reducing the speed to 1000 rpm increased the concentricity error. The shaft showed no significant signs of use after the experiments. The measurements confirm the suitability of the material for porous bearings.

Influences of Control Parameters on Reduction of Energy Losses in Electrohydraulic Valve with Stepping Motors

In many heavy machines, the use of high force drives is required. For such tasks, electrohydraulic servo drives with proportional valves are used most often. In these valves, the proportional electromagnets are applied. If high precise control is additionally required, it is necessary to use expensive servo valves or precise stepping motors. In this paper, the application of a valve with one (or with two) stepping motors in the electrohydraulic servo drive is described. Such motors may work in a micro-step mode, which enables the precise positioning of the valve spool with low energy consumption. The control system structure that was used for positioning, consisting of such an electrohydraulic servo drive with a valve having stepping motors, is described. In the investigations, the following control parameters are considered: the number of stepping motors used, proportional gain coefficients, supply pressure, and desired step distance. The simulation model of the servo drive is proposed, enabling the investigations of energy consumption during the positioning process. In the investigations, the drive step responses are recorded and compared, taking into account the rise time and energy consumption. The overshot-free algorithm is used in the following step and tested in positioning tasks. The collected results of energy consumption of the drive during the positioning process are compared with other solutions.

Porous Gas Journal Bearings: An Exact Solution Revisited and Force Coefficients for Stable Rotordynamic Performance

Having come of age, gas film bearings enable high-speed oil-free (micro) rotating machinery with gains in efficiency and reliability, longer maintenance intervals, and a reduction in contaminants released to the atmosphere. Among gas bearing types, porous surface gas bearings (PGBs) have proven successful for 50+ years and presently are off-the-shelf mechanical elements. This paper reviews the literature on PGBs since the 1970s and reproduces an exact solution for the performance of cylindrical PGBs. Both the analytical model and an accompanying finite-element (FE) model predict the performance for two PGBs, a commercially available 76 mm diameter bearing and a smaller 25 mm diameter laboratory unit whose experimental performance is available. As expected, the FE model results reproduce the analytical predictions obtained in a minuscule computing time. For a set external supply pressure, as the radial clearance increases, the flow rate through the bearing grows until reaching a peak magnitude. The PGB load capacity is a fraction of the product of the set pressure difference (pS − pa) and the bearing projected area with a significantly large centering static stiffness evolving over a narrow region of clearances. Operation with shaft speed enhances the bearing load capacity; however, at sufficiently high speeds, significant magnitude cross-coupled forces limit the stable operation of a PGB. At constant operating shaft speed, as the whirl frequency grows, the bearing effective stiffness (Keff) increases, while the effective damping (Ceff) becomes positive for whirl frequencies greater than 50% shaft speed. Similar to a plain hydrodynamic journal bearing, the PGB is prone to a half-frequency whirl, albeit the system natural frequency can be high, mainly depending on the external supply pressure. In essence, for the cases considered, PGBs are linear mechanical elements whose load capacity is proportional to the journal eccentricity.

Measurements of Static and Dynamic Load Performance of a 102 MM Carbon-Graphite Porous Surface Tilting-Pad Gas Journal Bearing

Aerostatic journal bearings with porous tilting pads enable shaft support with minute drag power losses. To date archival information on the static and dynamic load performance of this bearing type is scant. Thus, the paper presents measurements conducted with an air bearing with diameter 102 mm and comprising four tilting pads made of porous carbon-graphite, each with length = 76 mm. At ambient temperature of 21°C, as the air supply pressure into the bearing pads increases, so does the bearing aerostatic specific load that reaches 58% of the pressure difference. With a supply pressure of 7.8 bar(a), the test bearing static stiffness = 13.1 MN/m, is independent of both shaft speed and static load. While operating with shaft speeds = 6 krpm and 9 krpm and under specific loads to 115 kPa and 101 kPa respectively, dynamic load experiments with excitation frequencies up to 342 Hz show the test bearing supplied with air at 7.8 bar(a) has frequency independent stiffness and damping coefficients. For rotor speeds equaling 0, 6 and 9 krpm, the bearing direct stiffnesses range from 13.6 MN/m to 32.7 MN/m as the specific load increases from 0 kPa to 115 kPa. The direct damping coefficients are as large as 5.8 kN·s/m. The test porous gas bearing reached its intended load capacity, demonstrated a dynamically stable operation and produced force coefficients mainly affected by the pads' pivot supports and the magnitude of air supply pressurization.

Difference between SFMR and SITMR 1 compensation for hydrostatic thrust bearing

Both flat and island type membranes are used in single-action membrane restrictors. But the difference between the single-action flat membrane restrictor (SFMR) and the single-action island type membrane restrictor (SITMR) has rarely been reported in the literature. In this study, we first compared the static and dynamic characteristics of SFMR and SITMR, and found that there is a little difference between them when the difference between supply pressure ps and outlet pressure pr is not large. Then, we investigated the dynamic characteristics of hydrostatic thrust bearings using both SFMR and SITMR compensation, and found SITMR having a better dynamic bearing performance. The reason for this phenomenon is that the mass of the membrane in SITMR is smaller than that of the membrane in SFMR. When the difference between supply pressure ps and outlet pressure pr becomes large, SFMR reduces the static flow rate of the lubricant of bearing systems more significantly than SITMR.

Measurements of Static and Dynamic Load Performance of a 102 mm Carbon-Graphite Porous Surface Tilting-Pad Gas Journal Bearing

Aerostatic journal bearings with porous tilting pads enable shaft support with minute drag power losses. To date archival information on the static and dynamic load performance of this bearing type is scant. Thus, the paper presents measurements conducted with an air lubricated bearing with diameter d = 102 mm and comprising four tilting pads made of porous carbon-graphite, each with length L = 76 mm. Two nested Belleville washers resting on spherical pivots support each pad. At ambient temperature of ∼ 21°C, as the air supply pressure into the bearing pads increases, so does the bearing aerostatic specific load (F/(L·d)) that reaches 58% of the pressure difference, supply minus ambient. With an air supply pressure of 7.8 bar(a), the test bearing static stiffness KS = 13.1 MN/m, is independent of both shaft speed and static load. KS is just 63% of the washers’ stiffness KP = 20.6 MN/m (during loading). While operating with shaft speeds equal to 6 krpm and 9 krpm (150 Hz) and under specific loads to 115 kPa and 101 kPa respectively, dynamic load experiments with excitation frequencies up to 342 Hz show the test bearing supplied with air at 7.8 bar(a) has frequency independent stiffness (K) and damping (C) coefficients. For rotor speeds equaling 0, 6 and 9 krpm, the bearing direct stiffnesses KXX ∼ KYY range from 13.6 MN/m to 32.7 MN/m as the specific load increases from 0 kPa to 115 kPa. The direct damping coefficients CXX ∼ CYY are as large as 5.8 kN·s/m, though having a large experimental uncertainty. Bearing cross-coupled force coefficients are insignificant. The test porous gas bearing reached its intended load capacity, demonstrated a dynamically stable operation and produced force coefficients mainly affected by the pads’ pivot supports and the magnitude of air supply pressurization.

Experimental Study of See-Saw Mode Nano-Vibration on Orifice-Type Restrictors

Slide stability is key to the aerostatic guide in ultra-precise machines; thus, it has garnered plenty of attention. Macro-scale studies are commonplace, but micro- and nano-vibration issues require more attention. Microscope vibration is mainly caused by tiny changes in the fluid parameters of lubricating gas film, which is complex and has no verdict. In this case, slide-gas interaction should be considered. In this study, the widely used orifice-type restrictor was investigated for its nano-vibration performance. A Comsol finite-element-method fluid–structure interaction model was used to simulate and analyze an orifice-type restrictor, and orifice-restrictor vibration characteristics at the nanometer scale were inspected using a high-performance laser vibrometer. The results demonstrate that see-saw mode vibrations occur in the restrictors, growing stronger with increased air-supply pressure. The see-saw vibration’s axis is speculatively determined based on orifice and restrictor structures, and the vibration type is related to the number of orifices. The results also show that the vibration is random with natural frequencies at the kilohertz level. The newly provided research results are beneficial for better understanding the nano-vibrations of orifice-type restrictors.